Newcastle Glasses

Part 6. Newcastle Glasses, 1728 - 1790.

Newcastle with a stem of spindly construction, perhaps Liege, Belgium. see Part 5. c. 1750.As discussed in part 5, of all the groups of English glasses the Newcastles are most contentious. They were originally thought to have been made in Newcastle. London is now thought to be the more probable location, at least in the early decades, as it thronged with Dutch merchants and the glasshouses there worked in the latest fashion. However, it cannot be excluded that the style originated in Newcastle. As we also saw in Part 5, they can be seen readily to have evolved from the baluster and balustroid styles. The original type glass has a deep round funnel bowl set on a tall multi-knopped stem and usually a plain foot.

The earliest Newcastles we know were engraved by Frans Greenwood, son of a Yorkshire merchant who went to live in Holland. He began in 1718 with a typical English drawn trumpet glass, another fairly popular shape for engraving at that time. Then came his first Newcastle, in 1722. With an English family in the business of exporting goods to the continent, a supply of English glass was not a problem for him. The glass (left) is one of only two Newcastles in the Fitzwilliam collections.

Two Newcastles with air-bead knops.: That on the left, dated in the catalogue as c. 1745 might well have been dated 15 years earlier had not the vendor wished to associate a dubious Jacobite connection with the wheel engraved carnation, bud and butterfy on the bowl. This successful ploy which nearly doubled its price at auction! Right,This glass, however, explains the longevity of the style throughout the 18th century. It was adopted by talented Dutch amateurs as a choice specimen for engraving, as a souvenir or presentation piece, an enthusiasm for which that country has a long history. Further, they are generally taller with a more stately appearance compared with glasses made on both sides of the channel other than the special verres de parade which are in a class by their own. Also, the lead glass is much softer than the German chalk-potash glass and a much friendlier medium for the engraver to work. Only a few Newcastles have manifestly English engraving.

It is due to the engraving, particularly by known artists, that we are able to date so many examples with reasonable accuracy. This superfluity of Dutch engraving, together with the poor colour and somewhat spindly nature of the stems of some examples, often thinly blown, has led to one prevailing view that all Newcastles were made in the Netherlands. The problem for the protagonist for a Netherlandish origin, for which no explanation has, so far, been forthcoming, is to demonstrate where they were made in lead glass on the Continent at such an early date? It may be fairly said, too, that without adopting the Newcastle and later English styles the Netherlands has very little table glass of any quality. The similarity of structure between the English light baluster and a Newcastle is Later Newcastle with multi-air spirals.: The wheel engraving is signed AF Schurman Sculpsit indicating a date of c. 1758. Ht. 19.7cm. Photo courtesy of Sothebys.discussed in Part 5. Newcastle with an airspiral knop.

By the end of the decade (1730) a new feature was introduced into the stem. This was a largish knop enclosing one or two circuits of fairly well formed air beads as shown above. By 1740, or a little later, this had developed into a well executed multiple air spiral, paralleling the emergence of the new style air twist glasses. Both beaded knops and air twist sections, together with the excellent quality of the crystal, characterise the manifestly English nature of the Newcastles. Somewhat later, 1760 say, a third new feature was introduced, the dumbell knop. It seems to have become particularly popular with an included air twist and in the cut Newcastles that appeared in the last quarter of the 18th century.

The rather spindly Newcastles, mentioned earlier, largely date from after 1745/6 a key year in 18th century glass history. This was when a punitive duty and restrictive Excise Newcastle with dumbell air twist knop.: Signed and dated 1759 by Jacob Sang. Photo courtesy of Bonhams.practices were imposed on the English glass industry. All glasshouses were looking for ways to economise in order to survive. Just as continental glassmakers looked to England for ideas so surely did the reverse. Glasses such as these, using cheaper materials and feeding a relatively small market, could be an English response to economic conditions of the day. There is no evidence for this theory, but then, facts always were an impediment to constructive speculation!

Early cut balustroid glass engraved "Prosperity to Houghton", c. 1735. Why the Newcastles died out is difficult to say and was perhaps due to several factors. The growing unrest in Europe may have suppressed the desire there for engraving. Cut decoration was greatly on the increase and, in England, the invention of steam cutting and large cutting workshops brought cheaper prestigious glass to a larger market.

The cut Newcastles illustrated here reveal superb workmanship, The Prosperity to Houghton glass is one of the earliest known English cut goblets although cutting on the Continent dates back to c. 1680. The late example, 1890, is notable for the the curved facets at the base of the bowl. The cut knop in the centre of the stem contains a ring of air beads reflecting the earlier decorative Late cut Newcastle, 1790.styles. Only light decoration round the rim is required to set off the monogram beneath.

Dating such glasses depends mainly on signed and dated examples by the eminent Dutch engraver, David Wolff. In the last quarter of the 18th centuryEnglish cut goblets becam popular for both copper wheel and stipple engraving.New styles were on the way, however, with long flat cuts up the bowl - panel cutting - leaving little room for the engraver.

While England was dominating the cut glass market the burgeoning Bohemian industry was beginning to make inroads with a new threat - coloured glass and white glass painted with transparent coloured enamels. There was little room now for the talented amateur engraver. The 19th century was, indeed, ushering in the wind of change.